Crossing Ulster's Other Great Divide

Abstract

AbstractFollowing the report of the Lock‐wood Committee (196S), the Northern Ireland government greatly expanded its higher education provision by creating two new institutions, the New University of Ulster, modelled on the English ‘whitebrick’ foundations of the period, and a direct grant institution for advanced further education, Ulster College. The first part of the article describes the reaction of the century‐old Queen's University, Belfast and the new creations to the challenges of the Seventies, including the Ulster ‘troubles’, and to changing student demands and community needs.NUU soon began to experience difficulties in recruiting students, both in quality and quantity, whereas UC, which became a polytechnic in 1975, succeeded beyond expectations. In 1982, after a review by the Chilver Committee but against its recommendation, the Westminster government decided, as an alternative to closing NUU, to merge it with the polytechnic to form the University of Ulster. The article discusses the merger, and the alternatives to it, seeking to distinguish between that which was accidental to the Ulster situation and that which might have more general application. It considers the problems of co‐ordination, before and after the merger, including that of ‘complementarity’ between QUB and the University of Ulster. Finally it outlines the objectives of UU and the considerable progress made towards achieving them but sounds a cautionary note with regard to the social context in which it operates.